Box Score FAIRFIELD, Conn. – A dominant defensive performance and a timely offensive outburst from freshman
Sara MacLeod lead Fairfield University Women's Lacrosse to a 13-4 victory over visiting Siena on Sunday afternoon to claim the 2026 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship. The top-seeded Stags raise the MAAC trophy for the second consecutive year and the 10th time in program history.
Fairfield's 10th MAAC Championship is also the seventh in 11 seasons led by Head Coach
Laura Field (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026). Field's seventh crown as head coach is a new MAAC record. She was also an assistant coach for her predecessor, Mike Waldvogel, for MAAC Championships in 2009 and 2015.
In today's game, Sara McLeod led the attack with six goals to earn Championship MVP honors. The rookie entered the day with eight career goals, nearly doubling that total with today's effort. She was joined on the All-Championship Team by
Tessa Caputo,
Brynn Donnelly,
Kelly Haggerty, and
Kyleigh Tufano.
Caputo was the catalyst for the Stags' attack with six assists today to finish with 11 points in Fairfield's postseason run. Her half-dozen helpers in the final improved her own Fairfield single-season record to 52 assists on the season. Caputo also vaults into fifth place all-time with 79 points and counting in her sophomore campaign.
Tufano netted her second consecutive hat trick of the postseason, and Haggerty had a three-point day with two goals and an assist. The MAAC Preseason Player of the Year, Haggerty boosted her totals to 45 goals and 60 points this season. She and Caputo are the sixth set of Fairfield teammates to each record 60 points in the same season.
Rounding out today's scoring,
Haley Burns and
Mary Henry each netted one goal and one assist, and
Lizzie Getz distributed one helper.
The Stags stayed on the attack courtesy of nine draw controls from Donnelly – the Stags' all-time leader in every category on the draw. Fairfield led 12-7 on the restart, including a run of eight straight wins to build a 7-2 lead early in the third quarter that proved insurmountable.
The defensive effort was guided by
Sophia Colasacco with a caused turnover and four ground balls. Burns added two caused turnovers in the midfield and Caputo had a pair as a part of the Fairfield ride.
Whitney Robinson made four saves protecting the Fairfield cage.
The Stags started the game with a 4-0 run, holding Siena off the board for a stretch of 13:33. The Saints responded in kind on the defensive end, as Fairfield then endured a 19:20 scoring drought, but Fairfield continued to keep Siena at bay and maintained a 4-2 cushion while the offense regained its momentum.
The deciding stretch was the third quarter, with the Stags dominating the frame, 7-0, to build a comfortable 11-2 margin. The run ballooned to nine straight goals – as the Siena power outage reached 26:48 of game time – to stake Fairfield to a 13-2 margin midway through the fourth quarter. The Saints tacked on two late tallies before the Stags iced the win and the MAAC Championship as time expired on a 13-4 triumph.
Siena's foul goals came from four different scorers, with Cassidy Morrow also dishing out an assist. MAAC Goalkeeper of the Year McAllister Salter made seven saves for the fifth-seeded visitors.
Fairfield Women's Lacrosse will bring a 15-3 record and an 11-game winning streak into the NCAA postseason. The Stags learn their opening round opponent and destination when the field is unveiled tonight at 9 p.m. on ESPNU.
